Amusement device



Aug. 8, 1961 E. L. AMBLE AMUSEMENT DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March1, 1960 INVENTOR. ELMER L. AMBLE BY "W .A TTORNEYS Allg- 1961 E. L.AMBLE 2,995,369

AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed March 1, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 111111111111, I uI I I n I 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIA I a I II a I 1 IN VENTOR.

ELMER L. AMBLE .AT TORNEYS Un tt tes Paw 2,995,369 AMUSEMENT DEVICE,Elmer L. Amble, Blue Earth, Minn.

Filed Mar. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 12,068 1 2 Claims. (Cl. 2.7251) Thisinvention relates to playground or amusement devices for children, andmore particularly to an entertaining merry-go-round device which rotatesin an adjustable horizontally inclined plane. 3

An object of this invention is the provisionof an amusement devicehaving an elongated seat board which the riders may cause to rotate inan adjustable horizontally inclined plane merely by adjusting theirpositionson the seat board. j

Another object of this invention is the provision of an amusement devicehaving a novel base and adjustment mechanism upon-which the seat boardis rotatably supported and adjusted to desired positions. 7 I

A further object of this invention is the provision of an amusementdevice having a new adjustable upstanding handle gripping elementassociated with both ends of the seat board. p I,

A still further object of my invention is the provision of an amusementdevice which is beneficial because of its entertaining and exercisingusefulness, may be simply but substantially and durably constructed, andis inexpensive to manufacture.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed specification, appended claims and attacheddrawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters indicatelike parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of my novel invention, some partsshown in section;

FIG. 2 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in end elevation taken on the irregular line 33 of FIG.1 with some parts shown in section; and

FIG. 4 is a view in vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the referencenumeral 1 represents generally the ground supported base of my amusementdevice. The base 1 includes an elongated cylindrical sleeve 2 supportedvertically above the ground by a concrete encasing 3. Secured to saidsleeve 2 near the top 4 thereof is a clamp bracket 5. Rigidly secured tothe clamp bracket 5, as at 6, are a plurality of outwardly dependingbrace members 7. The lower ends 8 of the said brace members are allrigidly secured, as at 9, at circumferentially spaced points on anannular ring 10, which engagingly overlies the ground in concentricrelationship to the sleeve 2. This novel bracing arrangement greatlyenhances the rigidity of the sleeve 2.

Slidably received within the sleeve 2 is an elongated post 11 which hasan upwardly opening U-shaped fork 12 on its upper end. The post 11 has aplurality of horizontally opening and vertically spaced apertures 13which alternately and selectively cooperate with a single alignedhorizontally opening aperture 14 near the top 4 of the sleeve 2. Alocking pin 15 is slidably received through the aperture 14 andalternately slidably received within a selected one of the apertures 13.This locking arrangement permits the post 11 to be adjustably raised andlowered to selected positions as desired.

The fork 12 of the post 11 has opposed upstanding side portions 16 withhorizontally alignable apertures 17 therein. Secured within theapertures 17 and pivotable about a horizontal axis defined thereby is aninverted T- member represented generally by the numeral 18 whichreceives a bolt 19 and a nut 19a; journaled with the apertu-res 17. Thegenerally upstanding portion of said T- member forms a verticallyinclined spindle 20 which pivots in a generally vertical plane about thehorizontal axis defined by said bolt 19. A laterally outwardlyprojecting crank arm 21 is rigidly secured to said T-member I8, and adepending elongated adjustment bar 22 is pivotally secured to the outerend 23 of the crank arm 21. The bar 22 is associated witha bracket 24which is rigidly secured to said sleeve 2. The bar 22 has a plurality oflongitudinally spaced apertures 25 which cooperate with and arealternately aligned with a plurality of apertures 26 in said bracket 24.l A suitable fastener 27 is receivable within a cooperating pair ofapertures selected from the apertures 25 and 26, and thereby rigidlyconnects the. bar 22 to the bracket 24 in any desired position so as toselectively adjust the inclination of the spindle 20.

A hearing plate 28 defining a bearing collar 29 is rotatable upon thespindle 20'. The bearing plate 28 lies in a plane generally normal tothe axis of the spindle 20. A

- strengthening plate 30 is rigidly secured to the bearing plate 28 andalsolies in a plane generally normal to the axis ofthe spindle 20 andparallel to the above mentioned plane of said bearing plate 28. Rigidlysecured to said bearing plate 28 and to said strengthening plate 30, bysuitable fasteners 31, is an elongated seat board 32 which rotates aboutsaid spindle 20 with said plates 28, 30. The opposed ends of said seatboard 32 are formed to provide seat portions 34. Spaced between the seatportions 34 and the bearing plate 28 are a pair of handles representedgenerally by the numeral 35. Each handle 35 includes a cross bar 36 anddepending side portions 37 which are pivotally secured to the board 32by means of the lag bolts 38. Connected to each handle 35 are a pair ofknee braces 39 which are pivotally secured to the board 32, as at 40,and adjustably secured to the side portions 37 by suitable fasteners 41.The longitudinally spaced apertures 42 in each side portion 37 of thehandles 35 provides a means for selectively adjusting the position ofthe handles 35- in relation to the rider, not shown. For the purpose ofproviding stirrups, represented generally by the reference numeral 42',for receiving the riders feet, not shown, a pair of chains 43 areadjustably secured to both seat portions 34 of the board 32 by means ofa pair of snap swivels 44 received on the lag bolts 38, as shownparticularly in FIG. 4. Each set of chains 43 is further provided with across rod 45.

Having specifically described my invention, it will be seen that anextremely useful merry-go-round type of amusement device is providedfor. By adjusting the inclination of the spindle 20 so that the same isvertically disposed, it should be obvious that the board 32 will rotatein a horizontal plane remote from the ground a distance corresponding tothe adjusted height of the post 11 within the sleeve 2. However, byadjusting the horizontal inclination of the board 32, as abovedescribed, and

' by adjusting the height of the post 11, an extremely entertainingamusement device results therefrom. When the board 32 is so inclinedfrom the horizontal, one rider mounts the lower seat portion 34, and theboard 32 is thereafter rotated through and the second rider gets on theboard 32. The rotation of the board 32 is thereafter maintained by thealternative back and forth leaning movements of the riders on theirseats 34 which alters the magnitude of the respective moments about theaxis of rotation. The rider in the upper position leans back so as toincrease his distance from the spindle 20 and the lower rider leansforward toward the center of the board 32 so as to decrease his distancefrom the spindle 20. This causes rotation of the riders until theirpositions are interchanged wherein the same leaning procedure is againfollowed so as to cause a constant increase in the moment of the upperrider and a decrease in the moment of the lower rider.

This invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be completelysatisfactory for the accomplishment of the above objects; and while Ihave shown a preferred embodiment thereof, I wish it to be specificallyunderstood that same is capable of modification Without departure fromthe scope and spirit of the appended claims. What I claim is: p

1. An amusement device comprising a ground supported rigid base having avertically disposed cylindrical sleeve secured thereto, said basecomprising said sleeve which is securely anchored in the ground, aground supported annular ring, and a plurality of vertically inclinedbrace members connected to the upper outer portion of said sleeve and tosaid ring, said amusement device further comprising a verticallyadjustable post slidably received within said sleeve, means associatedwith said sleeve and said post for establishing vertical adjustmenttherebetween, said means comprising a plurality of horizontally openingand vertically spaced apertures defined in said post and alternatelycooperating with an aligned horizontally opening aperture defined in theupper portion of said sleeve, and a locking pin slidably receivable inthe aperture in said sleeve and alternately slidably receivable within aselected one of the apertures'in said post for vertical adjustmentstherebetween, said amusement device further comprising an upwardlyopening U- shaped fork rigidly secured to the upper end of said post, agenerally upright spindle journaled within said fork for pivotalmovements in a generally vertical plane, means associated with saidspindle-and said post for imparting adjustable movements to saidspindle, the last said means comprising a laterally outwardly projectingcrank arm rigidly secured to said spindle, '21 depending elongatedadjustment bar pivotally secured to the outer end of said crank arm anddefining means associated with said sleeve for relative adjustmenttherebetween so as to selectively adjust the inclination of saidspindle, said amusement device further comprising a bearing platerotatable upon said spindle and lying in a plane generally normalthereto, and an elongated seat board rigidly secured to said bearingplate for'rotation therewith about the axis of said-spindle.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in further combination with stirrupmeans secured to opposite ends of said seat board for receiving the feetof the riders.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

